I am currently taking the class Foundations of College Writing with Dr. Sherry. In this class, we were taught how to use different genres to share information with different audiences. In this portfolio, I will be using my works that I have done for the class and show how they satisfy the goals that have been set. To start, I wrote a paper on physical exercise levels among college students and how they decrease as students transition from high school to college. Next, I took this information and changed it into different genres that were best suited for the different audiences I was addressing; students, family, and faculty members. Lastly, my final project was a paper written on my own experiences and how they have influenced me and taught me what it means to be educated.
Goal A: Students will be able to compose for particular audiences and purposes.
This goal states that students will be able to transform information in ways that are appropriate for different people who are viewing it and why. To show how I have learned to do this, I have chosen a brochure that I have made for college students, and a flyer that I have made for family/faculty members as part of the E.A.R. project. E.A.R. stands for Engaging other Audiences with your Research and has taught me how to turn my research into different genres so that it may appeal to different audiences. The brochure that I made for college students, contains the important facts about exercise, the harmful effects that come with low exercise levels, and what one can do to make sure they have time to obtain the necessary exercise levels. In my flyer which I made for family and faculty members, I included more general information that was easy to read and grabbed the reader's attention.
I am using the flyer to send the message to my audience that physical exercise is very important. Many students are getting less exercise in college than they did in high school, which is a serious problem that should not be taken lightly. I used a flyer because it can be posted around school and in places easily seen by family and faculty. I used bright colors to make my flyer visually appealing and able to attract the attention of my audience, even at a quick glance.
In my brochure (below) I am giving information about physical exercise levels among college students in a genre that I felt was best suited for the audience; students. This brochure informs the audience of the importance of physical exercise and what students can do to make time for it. It offers information on why students are not getting exercise and what they can do to fix this problem.
I am using the brochure to inform students of the importance of physical exercise and what they can do to make sure that they are obtaining the required amounts of it. Making my brochure helped me to learn how to compose for different audiences and taught me tactics to use to appeal to these different audiences.
My two projects satisfy the goal because I formed my information into two different genres that were appropriate for their audiences and were both professional looking and visually appealing.
Goal B: Students will be able to compose using language and conventions appropriate to genre.
This goal states that students will be able to write or present using the style/rules of the form. To show how I have learned to do this, I researched reliable sources to find information about physical exercise levels among college students. I then used this information to form my C.L.U.E. paper, which stands for College Life Under Examination. My CLUE paper was a research paper that I wrote using my research and interviews I conducted with my peers. I split my paper into sections (problem, background, method, findings, and conclusion) and used my information to address the problem of college students not getting enough physical exercise. These are appropriate to genre because they give the paper structure and organization like research paper should have.
This paper allowed me to go outside of my comfort zone and write in a style that I was not used to writing in. This paper opened my eyes to a different style of writing and showed me possible techniques to grab the attention of my audience and make the paper better organized and structured. By splitting my paper into different sections, I was able to organize my information and structure my paper in a way that allowed my research to be easily read and understood by my audience.
Goal C: Students will be able to read, select, and use evidence critically to formulate and support arguments.
This goal states that students will be able to gather information that they can use to support their topic and ask questions. To show how I have learned to use this, I am using my CLUE project and the three IN's. The three IN's are INtroduce, INsert, and INterpret and I used them to draw the reader in and help them to better understand my research. The three IN's are used to introduce a problem, insert facts about the problem, and then interpret what these findings and my research mean. The three IN's can be found on the second page of my CLUE research paper.
Using the three IN's satisfied this goal because they allowed me to structure and select my evidence and research so that it supports my argument and the problem I am addressing in my paper. This has taught me how to make my research easier to read and ways to better introduce my research to my audience, and how to write it (interpret) in a way that is easily understood and comprehended.
Goal D: Students will be able to interpret and compose in a variety of media and print/non-print genres.
This goal states that students will be able to read and create in multiple ways, using multiple forms. To show how I have learned to do this, I am using my satire and brochure that I created for my E.A.R project while using the research from the C.L.U.E. project.
I had created my brochure using my research from my CLUE project and with the idea of students being the audience. I used the C.R.A.P. principles, which is an acronym for contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. These principles give you guidelines to follow that make your genre more professional and attention grabbing. In my brochure I followed these principles by using bright font colors and graphics to grab the attention of the audience. Also, I made sure that I followed the alignment principle by aligning all of the text and graphics. Lastly, I grouped the information into categories that seemed logical to give my brochure a good sense of the proximity.
This satire uses humor and sarcasm to give the audience the information I am sharing. In my satire, I once again used the C.R.A.P. principles to make the piece very interesting, attention grabbing, and professional. To follow the contrast principle I used bright red font color to have the title and important information jump off the page. Also, I used the repetition of this red font color to draw the audience's eyes down the satire and to make it more visually appealing. Like in my brochure, I aligned my text and graphics and grouped my information into categories that seemed logical and followed the proximity principle.
Learning these principles really helped me to understand the importance of contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. They showed me what it takes to make a flyer, brochure, satire, etc. visually appealing and professional looking, as well as techniques to capture the attention of the audience.
Goal E: Students will be able to discuss and apply appropriate writing processes both individually and in collaborative contexts.
This goal states that students will be able to discuss and apply appropriate revisions by themselves and with others. This means that we are able to revise our work by ourselves as well as in a group to see what changes or adjustments may be made to strengthen the weaknesses of the paper. We have learned to give our honest opinions when revising and tactics we can use to offer our ideas and opinions without completely changing the work of our peers. Hearing the opinions of my peers and Dr. Sherry, and taking notes on the adjustments they felt were necessary allowed me to have stronger and more organized papers that I was very pleased with.
This sheet allows me to mark down when my peers offered ideas for my paper and make notes on the comments they made. It allowed me to realize the strong points of my paper and what I can do to strengthen the weaker aspects of it. Peer review also gave me a chance to come up with my own ideas and write down examples of when I met the criteria Dr. Sherry was asking for. Peer reviewing was very helpful to me and allowed me to produce some of my best works.
This checklist allows me to see what criteria I am missing and what Dr. Sherry believes I should do to strengthen my paper. This has been extremely helpful for me and has helped me to produce some of my best works. This has taught me to pay attention to the criteria of the assignment and to try my hardest to reach all of the requirements my professor is looking for.
These are five goals that every student should reach. They are necessary for learning how to produce different genres for different audiences. I have learned many important writing techniques in class that I will be able to use for the rest of my college career. I am now able to write papers and create different genres that are best suited for the audience I am aiming at. With this new knowledge I will be able to create strong works that are both professional and full of rich information.
Goal A: Students will be able to compose for particular audiences and purposes.
This goal states that students will be able to transform information in ways that are appropriate for different people who are viewing it and why. To show how I have learned to do this, I have chosen a brochure that I have made for college students, and a flyer that I have made for family/faculty members as part of the E.A.R. project. E.A.R. stands for Engaging other Audiences with your Research and has taught me how to turn my research into different genres so that it may appeal to different audiences. The brochure that I made for college students, contains the important facts about exercise, the harmful effects that come with low exercise levels, and what one can do to make sure they have time to obtain the necessary exercise levels. In my flyer which I made for family and faculty members, I included more general information that was easy to read and grabbed the reader's attention.
My Flyer:
I am using the flyer to send the message to my audience that physical exercise is very important. Many students are getting less exercise in college than they did in high school, which is a serious problem that should not be taken lightly. I used a flyer because it can be posted around school and in places easily seen by family and faculty. I used bright colors to make my flyer visually appealing and able to attract the attention of my audience, even at a quick glance.
In my brochure (below) I am giving information about physical exercise levels among college students in a genre that I felt was best suited for the audience; students. This brochure informs the audience of the importance of physical exercise and what students can do to make time for it. It offers information on why students are not getting exercise and what they can do to fix this problem.
My Brochure:
I am using the brochure to inform students of the importance of physical exercise and what they can do to make sure that they are obtaining the required amounts of it. Making my brochure helped me to learn how to compose for different audiences and taught me tactics to use to appeal to these different audiences.
My two projects satisfy the goal because I formed my information into two different genres that were appropriate for their audiences and were both professional looking and visually appealing.
Goal B: Students will be able to compose using language and conventions appropriate to genre.
This goal states that students will be able to write or present using the style/rules of the form. To show how I have learned to do this, I researched reliable sources to find information about physical exercise levels among college students. I then used this information to form my C.L.U.E. paper, which stands for College Life Under Examination. My CLUE paper was a research paper that I wrote using my research and interviews I conducted with my peers. I split my paper into sections (problem, background, method, findings, and conclusion) and used my information to address the problem of college students not getting enough physical exercise. These are appropriate to genre because they give the paper structure and organization like research paper should have.
My CLUE paper:
This paper allowed me to go outside of my comfort zone and write in a style that I was not used to writing in. This paper opened my eyes to a different style of writing and showed me possible techniques to grab the attention of my audience and make the paper better organized and structured. By splitting my paper into different sections, I was able to organize my information and structure my paper in a way that allowed my research to be easily read and understood by my audience.
Goal C: Students will be able to read, select, and use evidence critically to formulate and support arguments.
This goal states that students will be able to gather information that they can use to support their topic and ask questions. To show how I have learned to use this, I am using my CLUE project and the three IN's. The three IN's are INtroduce, INsert, and INterpret and I used them to draw the reader in and help them to better understand my research. The three IN's are used to introduce a problem, insert facts about the problem, and then interpret what these findings and my research mean. The three IN's can be found on the second page of my CLUE research paper.
My CLUE paper:
Using the three IN's satisfied this goal because they allowed me to structure and select my evidence and research so that it supports my argument and the problem I am addressing in my paper. This has taught me how to make my research easier to read and ways to better introduce my research to my audience, and how to write it (interpret) in a way that is easily understood and comprehended.
Goal D: Students will be able to interpret and compose in a variety of media and print/non-print genres.
This goal states that students will be able to read and create in multiple ways, using multiple forms. To show how I have learned to do this, I am using my satire and brochure that I created for my E.A.R project while using the research from the C.L.U.E. project.
My Brochure:
I had created my brochure using my research from my CLUE project and with the idea of students being the audience. I used the C.R.A.P. principles, which is an acronym for contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. These principles give you guidelines to follow that make your genre more professional and attention grabbing. In my brochure I followed these principles by using bright font colors and graphics to grab the attention of the audience. Also, I made sure that I followed the alignment principle by aligning all of the text and graphics. Lastly, I grouped the information into categories that seemed logical to give my brochure a good sense of the proximity.
My Satire:
This satire uses humor and sarcasm to give the audience the information I am sharing. In my satire, I once again used the C.R.A.P. principles to make the piece very interesting, attention grabbing, and professional. To follow the contrast principle I used bright red font color to have the title and important information jump off the page. Also, I used the repetition of this red font color to draw the audience's eyes down the satire and to make it more visually appealing. Like in my brochure, I aligned my text and graphics and grouped my information into categories that seemed logical and followed the proximity principle.
Learning these principles really helped me to understand the importance of contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. They showed me what it takes to make a flyer, brochure, satire, etc. visually appealing and professional looking, as well as techniques to capture the attention of the audience.
Goal E: Students will be able to discuss and apply appropriate writing processes both individually and in collaborative contexts.
This goal states that students will be able to discuss and apply appropriate revisions by themselves and with others. This means that we are able to revise our work by ourselves as well as in a group to see what changes or adjustments may be made to strengthen the weaknesses of the paper. We have learned to give our honest opinions when revising and tactics we can use to offer our ideas and opinions without completely changing the work of our peers. Hearing the opinions of my peers and Dr. Sherry, and taking notes on the adjustments they felt were necessary allowed me to have stronger and more organized papers that I was very pleased with.
Peer Review Sheet:
This sheet allows me to mark down when my peers offered ideas for my paper and make notes on the comments they made. It allowed me to realize the strong points of my paper and what I can do to strengthen the weaker aspects of it. Peer review also gave me a chance to come up with my own ideas and write down examples of when I met the criteria Dr. Sherry was asking for. Peer reviewing was very helpful to me and allowed me to produce some of my best works.
Dr. Sherry Checklist:
This checklist allows me to see what criteria I am missing and what Dr. Sherry believes I should do to strengthen my paper. This has been extremely helpful for me and has helped me to produce some of my best works. This has taught me to pay attention to the criteria of the assignment and to try my hardest to reach all of the requirements my professor is looking for.
These are five goals that every student should reach. They are necessary for learning how to produce different genres for different audiences. I have learned many important writing techniques in class that I will be able to use for the rest of my college career. I am now able to write papers and create different genres that are best suited for the audience I am aiming at. With this new knowledge I will be able to create strong works that are both professional and full of rich information.